


Which is about things not worth crying over.

by clefairytea



Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Clefairy's Holiday Fic Request Fest, Gen, Heteronormativity, amatonormativity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-18 03:35:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21871102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clefairytea/pseuds/clefairytea
Summary: After another one of Snorkmaiden and Moomintroll’s disastrous attempts at a date, they’d had another argument.Snorkmaiden knew that couples were supposed to argue. After all, men and women were so different! And romance was meant to be passionate. Why, in books, a big argument was when most couples kissed for the first time!Yet their arguments never ended in huge passionate kisses, or even any particular resolution. What happened was they argued until they shouted, and then they shouted until they both cried.And even that was wrong! She was supposed to cry, and then Moomintroll, as the fellow, was supposed to be stoic and put an arm around her and comfort her. Instead, he cried just as badly, sometimes even worse, sometimes even when she managed to keep it together.The worst part was that when they were both too upset and tired to continue the argument, Moomintroll got to run off and go crying to Mamma. And if Moomintroll ran off crying to Mamma, it meant that Snorkmaiden couldn’t.So, after an argument, Snorkmaiden usually found herself crying alone. This was no exception.--Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden have an argument.
Relationships: Lilla My | Little My & Snorkfröken | The Snork Maiden
Comments: 7
Kudos: 121





	Which is about things not worth crying over.

**Author's Note:**

> Another holiday request for an anon on Tumblr! I wanted this one out before something in season 2 retcons it entirely.
> 
> Warnings for Moomintroll and Snorkmaiden's relationship being a big mess of intense unrealistic heteronormativity but they're too young and sheltered to really figure out why it's making them both miserable.

After another one of Snorkmaiden and Moomintroll’s disastrous attempts at a date, they’d had another argument.

Snorkmaiden knew that couples were supposed to argue. After all, men and women were so different! And romance was meant to be passionate. Why, in books, a big argument was when most couples _kissed_ for the first time!

Yet their arguments never ended in huge passionate kisses, or even any particular resolution. What happened was they argued until they shouted, and then they shouted until they both cried.

And even that was wrong! _She_ was supposed to cry, and then Moomintroll, as the fellow, was supposed to be stoic and put an arm around her and comfort her. Instead, he cried just as badly, sometimes even worse, sometimes even when she managed to keep it together.

The worst part was that when they were both too upset and tired to continue the argument, Moomintroll got to run off and go crying to Mamma. And if Moomintroll ran off crying to Mamma, it meant that Snorkmaiden _couldn’t_.

And who else was she supposed to go crying to? Snork wouldn’t be sympathetic in the least. And aside from Moomintroll, Snufkin was her only friend.

And he was, for many many _many_ reasons, not an option.

So, after an argument, Snorkmaiden usually found herself crying alone. This was no exception.

It was silly, really. Especially because at this point, she wasn’t even sure what they’d been arguing about. She rubbed her face with the back of her paw, mascara flaking away. She didn’t know why she bothered, really, Moomintroll didn’t even _notice_ that kind of thing.

Perhaps that had been what the argument was about? Oh, she didn’t know! All she knew was he had been irritating and she’d gotten mean with him about it, as she often did. She didn’t like herself in the least for it, but he was just so _frustrating_.

It was like she was trying to waltz with somebody who didn’t know the steps. Or _did_ but insisted on doing the samba instead. And then she’d try stepping into the samba and he’d start waltzing. They’d just go back and forth like that, stepping on each other’s toes, Moomintroll stuttering out apologies that only made her angrier, and she didn’t know what was _wrong_.

“Are you crying out here again?” said a voice from above her.

“Go away Little My,” she said, wiping her face and turning her back to her. “I’m not in the mood for somebody to be horrible to me!”

“Who said anything about being horrible?” Little My said, poking her head out of the branches above. “I just asked a completely ordinary question: are you, or are you not, crying?”

Snorkmaiden didn’t see why she should reply to that. She barely knew who this horrid little girl was. Little My just turned up last year, and all she seemed to want was be horrible. Worst was that she seemed to think Snorkmaiden just very silly and stupid.

The thought should have made her feel angry, which would have been nice, but instead it just made her cry harder. She pulled her knees up to her face.

There was a thump. Little My had dropped down from the tree beside her. After a minute, she grunted.

“Here,” she said. Snorkmaiden looked up, surprised to see Little My holding out a little pink handkerchief. She was so surprised, all she could do was stare.

“Look, I can’t put up with people crying,” she grunted, avoiding Snorkmaiden’s eye. “Take it and blow that oversized nose of yours already.”

Too surprised to snap at her, Snorkmaiden took the handkerchief. It was much thinner and longer than a handkerchief should be, but it would have to do. She wiped her eyes with it.

“What were you two shouting about anyway?” Little My said, folding her arms. “Not that I care. But I think if you’re going to make that much noise you should at least have a good reason for it.”

“Oh, I don’t even know,” she replied. “It doesn’t matter, I suppose.”

“Lousy reason to shout,” Little My said, leaning back against the tree, her paws behind her head. “Even lousier reason to cry.”

“Hmph. Well, I wouldn’t expect you to get it,” she said, turning up her nose. “You don’t understand a thing about _romance_.”

Little My gave a short barking laugh.

“That’s what you think.”

Snorkmaiden turned, eyes very wide, her upset momentarily forgotten at the prospect of gossip.

“You? What are you saying? That you have some kind of great unrequired love or – or, ah, you had some _torrid_ affair and – “ Snorkmaiden gasped, clapping her paws to her cheeks. “It all went south! That’s why you came to Moominvalley of a sudden and –“

Little My threw a twig at her face.

“Oh shut up!” she said, and then leaned back down, kicking her foot. “I’ve just seen enough of my mother’s disasters over the years, that’s all.”

“Oh,” Snorkmaiden said.

She had never met the Mymble before, but both Moomintroll and Mamma had told her stories. How she always travelled with a brood of children, with no father in sight! She’d even heard Mrs Fillyjonk, with a tone of great disdain, say that the children were not even from the same man. That was, naturally, the sort of scandalous thing that couldn’t possibly be true, but Snorkmaiden did wonder.

“Yeah. Seen plenty of wasteful crying in my time,” Little My said. “Was hoping living here I’d get away from it.”

“Oh, is she looking for a new husband after your Pappa left?” Snorkmaiden said, clasping her hands together. “Oh, do they break her heart, leaving her weeping and helpless?”

Little My cackled.

“Yeah, good one,” she said. “No, she picks chaps up and plays with them, but then she always gets bored. I try to warn them that they’re gonna end up chucked out on their tail-end, but like they ever listen to me. And then it’s all waa waa waa, my beautiful Mymble, take me back, I wrote a sixteen-stanza poem to your beauty. _Bleugh_.”

“Oooh,” Snorkmaiden squealed. “Well isn’t that romantic?”

“Romantic?” Little My repeated, looking at her as though she was mad. “Pathetic, more like! Clinging onto someone who’s not even that keen on you! If you ask me, they need a good slap and something better to worry about.”

“Oh, you have _no_ sense of romance at all,” Snorkmaiden replied, throwing up her paws in frustration. “Don’t you feel at least a little sorry for them?”

Little My huffed.

“I don’t waste my time feeling sorry for idiots,” she replied. “And I _don’t_ get what’s so romantic about being miserable all the time.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be the stuff of great romance if you were _cheerful_ , would it?” Snorkmaiden replied. “Nobody in any of my books goes around all jolly all the time.”

“I expect that’d be boring to read about,” Little My replied, picking her teeth with a twig. “Although I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re _not_ in a book.”

Snorkmaiden huffed and folded her arms, twisting away.

“Would be nice to feel like it, though,” she muttered.

“Oh yes, I expect it feels very romantic, someone just leaving you to cry by yourself all the time,” Little My muttered, sounding angrier than Snorkmaiden expected.

“He doesn’t –“

“Did on that island though, didn’t he?” Little My interrupted. “After you had all your hair singed off.”

Snorkmaiden winced, paw going to her fringe.

“Well, you left me too!” Snorkmaiden protested. For a second, she swore she saw Little My actually look _guilty_ , and then she smirked again, and Snorkmaiden was sure she’d imagined it.

“Well, _I’m_ not your boyfriend, am I?” she said. “I don’t even understand why you insist on having one.”

“I suppose you intend to die an old maid, then,” Snorkmaiden grumbled.

“A spinster,” Little My said cheerfully. “Maybe even a hag!”

“Oh please. You’re so young, you hardly know!” Snorkmaiden said (Little My cackled at that, for some reason). “I bet you’d change your tune completely if a prince on a white horse came galloping up for you.”

“I’d throw rocks at him,” Little My said. “Him and his stupid horse.”

“Rubbish,” Snorkmaiden replied. “Every little girl dreams of her Prince Charming. I just need to…get my Moomintroll to act more like him, that’s all.”

Little My fell silent at that, expression solemn. For a second, Snorkmaiden thought she was about to say something very profound, or even put an arm around her.

And then she turned around and yanked on Snorkmaiden’s tail.

“Ow!” Snorkmaiden squealed. “What was that for?”

“I think if someone says something as stupid as that, they should know about it!” she said fiercely, getting to her feet and putting her hands on her hips. “Trying to mould that fuzzball into some fairy tale prince, honestly. That’s a futile effort if I ever heard one! And even if it _wasn’t_ , don’t you have anything more interesting to do than this mushy rubbish?”

“Well, I don’t, really, do I!” Snorkmaiden burst out, clutching her sore tail between her paws. “If I’m not Moomintroll’s girlfriend, I’m not really anything at all in this valley, am I?”

Little My scrunched her face up at that.

“That’s another dreadfully stupid thing to say,” she said, and tried to snatch Snorkmaiden’s tail out of her paws. Snorkmaiden dodged out of the way and Little My fell on her face. She took another leap for it and Snorkmaiden kicked her away. Little My tried again and Snorkmaiden caught her ponytail, and before either of them quite knew what they were doing, they were scrapping in the grass in a most un-lady-like manner.

Little My bit Snorkmaiden hard on the arm and she yelped and punched Little My hard in the jaw. She staggered back and fell back, clutching her cheek. Snorkmaiden sank to her knees, and the two sat panting.

“Why do you care, anyway?” Snorkmaiden said. “You don’t even like me.”

“Hmph. Hardly,” Little My muttered, rubbing her jaw. “I just think you ought to have more self-respect.”

“Oh, who died and made you everyone’s nasty little fairy godmother?” Snorkmaiden snapped, every inch of her fur burning red. She glanced down again at Little My – oh dear. Her jaw did seem to be going a bit purple. She was a fair bit smaller than Snorkmaiden, after all. It was probably horribly unsporting of her to throw a punch at all.

“I’m sorry for hitting you,” she said, “but you shouldn’t pull on a troll’s tail. Everything else aside, it’s rude.”

Little My just grunted and continued rubbing her jaw. Snorkmaiden’s ears twitched with concern.

“Is your jaw alright?” she asked, reaching towards her face.

“It’s fine,” she snapped, jolting away from Snorkmaiden’s paw as though it were a sprouting hattifattener. “Just surprised you can punch like that.”

“Maybe you bring it out in me,” she replied, giggling. Little My glanced up, a smirk forcing its way onto her face.

The two girls sat quietly for a while, not sure quite what to do with each other. Snorkmaiden supposed they rarely did, really.

“I feel like the two of us will find it very hard to understand each other,” she said.

“You got that right, pal,” Little My replied. “Bet you wish a nicer, prettier girl moved into Moominvalley for you to be friends with.”

“No!” Snorkmaiden shouted, guilt turning her fur mauve.

That had been exactly what she thought.

It was terrible to say, but she’d just been so _excited_ to hear another girl had moved in. She thought this was her chance – she could have a _best friend_ , finally. Someone who would understand her properly and be proud of the things she was proud of and excited about the things she was excited about. Someone who wouldn’t rank her second-best.

Little My, scowling and spiky and spoiling for a fight, hadn’t exactly been what she’d been hoping for.

“Don’t lie, you’re rubbish at it,” Little My said, lying on her back with her paws behind her head. “And for the record, I’m not getting any nicer or prettier any time soon, so don’t try to give me a make-over!”

Snorkmaiden was about to say that she probably would be quite pretty, if she wasn’t scowling all the time, but then the bow was missing from Little My’s dress.

She glanced down at the little handkerchief in her paw.

“Oh, I think you’re nicer than you pretend to be,” she said, smiling to herself.

“Pssht,” Little My replied, closing her eyes. “I’m just glad you’ve stopped all that irritating boo-hoo-hooing. I can actually relax out here now.”

“Do you mind terribly if I stay here for a bit?” Snorkmaiden said, twisting the ribbon in her paws. “Not really in the mood to go home yet.”

“Do what you want,” Little My said. “You can keep the handkerchief, by the way. I don’t want it after you’ve gotten your snot all over it.”

Snorkmaiden laughed wetly, wiping her nose on her arm.

“I suppose you wouldn’t, would you?” she said. “Thank you, Little My.”

Little My tutted.

“Don’t even mention it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Gutsy I think you should let Snorkmaiden and Little My punch each other just a little bit before they become friends. I want them to be pals but I also want to them to get really frustrated with each other.


End file.
